Olga Samaroff

Olga Samaroff was created Lucie Hickenlooper in San Antonio, TX, and began her piano research with her mom at age three. By age group 12, Lucie acquired outpaced anyone in Tx who can offer her even more piano lessons and was taken up to European countries by her grandmother. Provided a scholarship towards the Paris Conservatoire (the first American girl therefore honored), she examined with Ernest Hutcheson, Antoine Marmontel, and Elie Délaborde, amongst others. She produced her debut in Paris and came back to NY, in triumph, on her behalf American debut in 1905. In the recommendation of her supervisor, she transformed her name to Olga Samaroff, as her provided name wasn’t ideal for a concert profession. Headstrong and supremely gifted as an interpreter in the grand intimate style, Samaroff quickly became perhaps one of the most well-known concert pianists of her time, touring across the world. Like her modern, opera diva Geraldine Farrar, Samaroff was idolized by ratings of young females who respected her feeling of self-reliance and professional self-reliance. In 1905, she 1st fulfilled organist and aspiring conductor Leopold Stokowski in NY. Although Samaroff experienced currently survived one short, failed marriage, both started a courtship that they held secret for quite a while. She was of crucial importance to Stokowski, assisting secure his 1st conducting post using the Cincinnati Symphony in 1909 and tugging the strings behind the moments for his visit towards the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1912. They wedded, secretly, in 1911, but Stokowski was struggling to stay faithful to her plus they divorced in 1924. This is Samaroff’s greatest way to obtain personal discomfort and she by no means remarried, but held the name Stokowski and utilized it for the others of her profession. Samaroff produced her 1st piano rolls for Welte in 1908, but prevented documenting until 1921, citing the poor audio and poor pianos common on information in her day time. She finally approved an present from Victor to record, but just on the problem that she could perform etc a full-sized Steinway concert grand. She bought the piano, but Victor experienced nowhere to shop it, and Samaroff finished up having to purchase a residence in upstate NY just to possess a place to place it. However, Victor did recognize from that point a better piano designed for better quality recordings, and transformed their position on the problem; in earning this fight, Samaroff occur place a typical for professional piano recordings that lasts however today. However, Samaroff harmed her still left arm in 1926, which necessitated her drawback from concert lifestyle. After a stint as music critic for NY Evening Post, Samaroff transferred into teaching, commuting between your Philadelphia Conservatory — where she was mind from the piano section — as well as the Juilliard College for the others of her times. She was also extremely energetic in charitable institutions, including beginning the Schubert Memorial Base in 1928, and she was nominated by Leader Franklin D. Roosevelt to greatly help administrate the Government Music Project from the WPA. Samaroff also moderated musical understanding applications on radio and her books, like the Layman’s Music Training course and An American Musician’s Tale (her autobiography), had been widely browse. When Olga Samaroff passed away in 1948, her picture used leading cover of Etude Newspaper and her transferring was observed as a significant event, particularly in america. Posterity is not as kind to Samaroff, but her legacy was greatest exemplified through the effect created by her college students, including William Kapell, Rosalyn Tureck, Raymond Lewenthal, Alexis Weissenberg, and Eugene List, to mention a few.